PULSE PLATING ON GOLD SURFACES STUDIED BY IN-SITU SCANNING-TUNNELING-MICROSCOPY

Deposition of bulk copper on thin film gold surfaces is carried out by computer-aided pulse plating. It is demonstrated that the morphology of the copper deposit can be studied by in situ scanning tunnelling microscopy both in potentiostatic experiments and in galvanostatic experiments. Optimized procedures for obtaining smooth deposits by pulse plating are explained in terms of a levelling effect. Possible non-faradaic processes observed in measurements with high frequency pulse plating are discussed.